Under The Bright Lights
David Corn, TomPaine.com

David Corn, Washington editor of The Nation, is the author of The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception.

George W. Bush has finally agreed to be interviewed by the independent 9/11 commission. Well, sort of. The White House says he will only meet with a limited number of the commission's 10 members. After the commission asked to talk privately to Bush—and to Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton and Al Gore—White House press secretary Scott McClellan on Feb. 13 said that his boss had "agreed to the request." But the following day an unnamed White House official said that Bush was not planning on meeting with the entire commission, which includes five Republicans and five Democrats.

This was hardly surprising, given Bush's history with the panel. He first opposed creating a commission to investigate what went wrong before and on 9/11. Then, as political pressure mounted, he went along—but only after winning the right to name the head of the commission. For that slot he selected Henry Kissinger, the poster boy for government secrecy. Kissinger ended up turning down the appointment to avoid having to name the clients of his international consulting firm. (What a patriot!) Bush then anointed Thomas Kean, a former moderate Republican governor from New Jersey. And several weeks ago when the commission, which has been facing a May 2004 deadline for the completion of its work, requested two additional months, the Bush White House said no. Once again, it retreated in the face of opposition—particularly from the 9/11 family members. (Still, the House Republican leadership says it is dead-set against any extension, and the committee can only obtain extra time if Congress passes the appropriate legislation.)

It's understandable that Bush is not eager to appear before the entire commission. It does contain several feisty member—most notably, former Rep. Timothy Roemer and former Sen. Bob Kerrey, both Democrats. More importantly, there are several obvious questions that could cause Bush to squirm.

FULL ARTICLE: Under The Bright Lights